Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

• To the Upper Merion Area School District for allowing residents of the district a chance to participate in a facilities feasibility study currently being conducted by the architecture group hired by the district. There will be a “Collaborative Idea Exchange” next Thursday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Upper Merion Area High School LGI room. Residents of districts far and wide often lament the lack of transparency on the part of the local school board. This is a great opportunity for resident of the Upper Merion Area School District to not only see what is taking place in their district, but to participate as well.

• To Marlo Davis, the founder of People Helping People. Davis saw a post on the philanthropic sites Facebook page from a little girl hoping to sell bracelets to raise money to but two wigs, one for school and one for play time. The little girl is suffering from alopecia, which causes people to all or almost all of their hair. Davis set up another page to help her raise the money and within hours they had exceeded their goal.

• To WM Robots LLC for donating a robot to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office during a ceremony at its Colmar headquarters. The robot will allow detectives, and other tactical units, to go in and investigate crime scenes where a human might not be able to reach, or be in a position of danger. We applaud anything that will keep law enforcement out of harm’s way, and we applaud loudly for a company willing to donate a piece of equipment that will do just that.

Thumbs Down

• To, yet again, the lack of any movement on property tax relief. We plan to continue with this thumbs down until action is taken. We’re heading into election season as well, so this thumbs down will be extended to individual candidates not on board with property tax reform. The focus now is on the state Senate, which has a bill sitting in its finance committee waiting for a vote. In Montgomery County, that includes Stewart Greenleaf, John Rafferty, Vincent Hughes, Bob Mensch and Daylin Leach. Please reach out to your state senator to let them know exactly how you feel.